Affordable Housing Advisory

Meetings
Meetings shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as may be determined by a majority of the board.

Members
The board shall consist of 11 members. Members of the board shall serve for 3-year terms.

Members shall be a resident, employed or own property within the city limits. Any member who fails to attend 2 of 3 successive meetings without cause shall be automatically removed from the committee. The committee shall include members as follows:

One citizen who is actively engaged in the residential home building industry in connection with affordable housing.

One citizen who is actively engaged in the banking or mortgage banking industry in connection with affordable housing.

One citizen who is a representative of those areas of labor actively engaged in home building in connection with affordable housing.

One citizen who is actively engaged as an advocate for low income persons in connection with affordable housing.

One citizen who is actively engaged as a for-profit provider of affordable housing.

One citizen who is actively engaged as a not-for-profit provider of affordable housing.

One citizen who is actively engaged as a real estate professional in connection with affordable housing.

One citizen who actively serves on the local planning agency pursuant to Florida Statute, Section 163.3174.

One citizen who actively resides within the jurisdiction of the local governing body making the appointments.

One citizen who represents employers within the jurisdiction.

One citizen who represents essential services personnel, as defined in the local housing assistance plan.

Duties
The members of the Local Affordable Housing Advisory Committee shall be sworn in by the city clerk to perform the duties of the office. The duties of this committee are as follows:

Triennially, the Local Affordable Housing Advisory Committee shall review established policies and procedures, ordinances, land development regulations, and adopted local government comprehensive plan of the appointing local government and shall recommend specific actions or initiatives to encourage or facilitate affordable housing while protecting the ability of the property to appreciate in value. The recommendations may include the modification or repeal of existing policies, procedures, ordinances, regulations, or plan provisions; the creation of exceptions applicable to affordable housing; or the adoption of new policies, procedures, regulations, ordinances, or plan provisions, including recommendations to amend the local government comprehensive plan and corresponding regulations, ordinances, and other policies. At a minimum, the advisory committee shall submit a report to the city council that includes recommendations on, and triennially thereafter evaluates the implementation of, affordable housing incentives in the following areas:

The processing of approvals of development orders or permits, as defined in Florida Statute, Section 163.3164(7) and (8), for affordable housing projects is expedited to a greater degree than other projects.

The modification of impact fee requirements, including reduction or waiver fees and alternative methods of fee payment for affordable housing.

The allowance of flexibility in densities for affordable housing.

The reduction parking and setback requirements for affordable housing.

The reduction of parking and setback requirements for affordable housing.

The allowance of flexible lot configurations, including zero lot line configurations for affordable housing,

The modification of street requirements for affordable housing.

The establishment of a process by which a local government considers, before adoption, policies, procedures, ordinances, regulations, or plan provisions that increase the cost of housing.

The preparation of a printed inventory of locally owned public lands suitable for affordable housing.

The support of development near transportation hubs and major employment centers and mixed use developments.

The local affordable housing advisory committee recommendations may also include affordable housing incentives identified by the advisory committee. Local governments that receive the minimum allocation under the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program shall perform the initial review but may elect to not perform the triennial review.

The approval by the advisory committee of its local housing incentive strategies recommendations and its review of local government implementation of previously recommended strategies must be made by affirmative vote of majority of the membership of the advisory committee taken at a public hearing. Notice of the time, date, and place of the public hearing of the advisory committee to adopt final local housing incentive strategies recommendations must be published in a newspaper of general paid circulation in the county. The notice must contain a short and concise summary of the local housing incentives strategies recommendations to be considered by the advisory committee. The notice must state the public place where a copy of the tentative advisory committee recommendations can be obtained by interested persons.

Within 90 days after the date of receipt of the local housing incentive strategies recommendations from the advisory committee, the City Council shall adopt an amendment to its local housing assistance plan to incorporate the local housing incentive strategies it will implement within its jurisdiction. The amendment must include, at a minimum, the local housing incentive strategies required under Florida Statute Section 420.9071(16). The local government must consider the strategies specified in sub sections 1 through 11 above as recommended by the committee.

The city clerk shall notify the Florida Housing Finance Corporation by certified mail of the adoption by City Council of an amendment to the local housing assistance plan to incorporate local housing incentive strategies. The notice must include a copy of the approved amended plan.

If the Florida Housing Finance Corporation fails to receive timely the approved amended local housing assistance plan to incorporate local housing incentive strategies, a notice of termination of its share of the local housing distribution shall be sent by certified mail by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to the affected county or eligible municipality. The notice of termination must specify a date of termination of the funding if the city has not adopted an amended local housing plan to incorporate local housing incentive strategies. If the city has not adopted an amended local housing assistance plan to incorporate local housing incentive strategies by the termination date specified in the notice of termination, the local distribution share terminates; and any uncommitted local distribution funds held by the city in its local housing assistance trust fund shall be transferred to the Local Government Housing Trust Fund to the credit of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to administer the local government housing program pursuant to Florida Statute, Section 420.9078.

The advisory committee may perform other duties at the request of the local government, including:

The provision of mentoring services to affordable housing partners including developers, banking institutions, employers, and others to identify available incentives, assist with applications for funding requests, and develop partnerships between various parties.

The creation of best practices for the development of affordable housing in the community.

The advisory committee shall coordinate with the housing and real estate division to ensure an integrated approach to the work of the advisory committee.